The NFL announced that it will schedule all 2020 games to take place in the United States in 2020, meaning the international series games in London and Mexico City won’t take place this year.
Five matches in total were set to take place outside the US, four of which were scheduled to take place in London, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley Stadium this fall.
The Jacksonville Jaguars were scheduled to play in two of those games, while the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins were also set to make the trip across the pond.
There was also one game scheduled for Mexico City, at the Azteca Stadium, but that’s also been cancelled as the league are focussing on the well-being of players, personnel and fans due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
NFL remain committed to international series from 2021
The regular season schedule is yet to be released, expected to be later this week. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic means the international series games won’t happen for the first time since 2007.
The Dolphins and the New York Giants played the first-ever game outside of the US. Over 81,000 fans attended the game at Wembley and the game has grown rapidly outside of the US.
Four games took place in London last season, while one took place in Mexico City, whose first international series game was back in 2016. NFL Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Christopher Halpin wrote the following in the statement released.
“After considerable analysis, we believe the decision to play all our games domestically this season is the right one for our players, our clubs, and all our fans in the US, Mexico and UK,” Halpin said.
“We greatly appreciate the support of our governmental and stadium partners in Mexico and the United Kingdom, who all agree with this decision, and we look forward to returning for games in both countries in the 2021 season.
“We also thank our incredible fans in those territories for their passionate support of the NFL. We will continue to serve them through our outstanding media partners and by being active supporters of both grassroots football and COVID-19 relief efforts in Mexico and the UK.”
The fixtures for the 2020 season is scheduled to be released this week. It's still unclear whether fans will be allowed to attend games or not due to the pandemic or whether the league will start on time, but the league remain committed to releasing the fixtures.